The promise and distraction of productivity and note-taking systems

submited by

Style Pass

2024-09-24 00:30:16

A while back I did a deep-dive researching and prototyping note-taking tools. It was the logical continuation of my life-long interest in writing and creativity tools or, at least, I thought it was at the time.

But, the more I researched the audience – both through interviews and reading through so, so many forum threads – I realised that a substantial portion of the paying audience for note-taking seemed to be completely disinterested in the role notes have in helping shape and improve the output. What they wanted from their note-taking systems was productivity and control. The systems helped banish procrastination, keep track of customer or team needs, connect those needs to information and new ideas, and link that to the tasks at hand.

They care about the output in that it needs to be on time and on spec. What this audience isn’t using note-taking for is to improve their creative output, because they don’t seem themselves as working in that domain.